HOLIDAY Inn staff pulled out all the stops to save a couple's wedding plans as clean-up operations began this week.

The hotel was badly damaged in a blaze which destroyed most of the roof.

However operations director Mark Foster says their biggest challenge has been to save the plans of a couple who had booked their wedding at the hotel this weekend.

He said: 'Although the roof is destroyed most of the damage has been caused by smoke and water. As pipes in the roof burst the water cascaded down through the building and a considerable amount of water was also used by the firefighters who worked so hard fighting the blaze.

'But perhaps our hardest task has been to save the plans of a couple who had planned their wedding at the hotel this weekend. At the very last minute we've managed to secure a switch to Chester Racecourse's banqueting suite.'

Kathy Lloyd, 35, who is due to marry 32-year-old Neil Ebbrell on Saturday said: 'We had 270 guests coming and a lot were booked into the hotel, which is where the ceremony and reception were to be held. After failing to arrange a change of venue we were left with no alternative but to postpone the wedding until after Christmas.

'But the Holiday Inn has been better than brilliant and managed to switch everything to Chester Racecourse.

'It has arranged for all my guests to have rooms at the Queen's Hotel and is even picking up the tab for the difference as well as providing transport.'

She added: 'They have saved my day and I can't thank them enough.'

Fire brigade spokesman Joe Whelan said: 'The cause of the fire is still under investigation but it looks likely to have started in a plant room on the fourth floor.

'The roof was destroyed and there is some structural damage. At its height we had 70 firefighters tackling the blaze.

'It was arduous work but nobody was hurt and guests and staff had been safely evacuated before we arrived.'